Family Secrets and New Beginnings
by boswifedeb
Summary: Hoyt brings Matt in to help when the daughter of an old friend is kidnapped just days before Chris & Murray's wedding. Secrets will be revealed and the bonds of friendship are strengthened. *Immediately follows "A Flash of Fang". Rated M for adult content.**
1. Chapter 1

"**Family Secrets and New Beginnings"**

****This story immediately follows "A Flash of Fang"****

"**Friends are family you choose."**

**Edna Buchanon**

**CHAPTER 1**

Matt picked up the ringing phone on his nightstand and looked at the alarm clock: 3:39am. He groaned. "Houston."

"Houston, I'm sorry to wake you, but a friend of mine has a big problem." It was LAPD detective Michael Hoyt on the line.

"What happened?" Yawning, Matt sat up on the side of the bed and tried to keep his eyes open. _Why do things always happen in the middle of the night?_ The thought floated through his head.

"His daughter has been kidnapped. They live down in San Diego." Michael Hoyt was putting on clothes as he spoke.

"Okay, uh, I'm gonna need a phone number or something so I can get the address and everything." As he spoke, Matt found his way to the closet for a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, then fumbled in the dresser for socks. His wife, CJ, was now awake and propped on her elbows listening to her husband's side of the conversation.

"No you don't because I'm going with you." The police lieutenant was tossing clothes into a suitcase with the help of his wife.

"Oh okay, well do you want to meet me here? Then we can drive down in the truck." He pulled out the boat bag that he used for a suitcase and started putting more clothes into it as CJ got up and grabbed socks and underwear out of the chest, packing her husband's bag for him.

"Works for me. Thanks, Houston." He closed the suitcase and slipped his shoes on his feet.

"No problem. See you in little bit." He hung up. "Somebody's been kidnapped. I'll be in San Diego." Matt hoisted his bag over his shoulder and started down the hallway, then set it down and quietly walked into his three month old daughter's room and placed a gentle kiss on her cheek. She was sleeping soundly and never even knew he was there. CJ walked with him to the kitchen, handing him his gun and the black duty holster that he used, along with three spare magazines. "You forgot something."

"Thanks Babe." He walked over to the kitchen counter and turned on the coffee pot. Rubbing his eyes, he yawned and CJ walked over and put her arms around his waist and her head on his chest.

"Don't forget that the wedding is Saturday." She looked up at her husband. He was going to be Murray Chase's best man at his wedding to their secretary Chris Atwater. After the wedding chapel that they had booked for the ceremony was burnt down by an arsonist, Matt had offered to let the couple use his ranch in Texas. They were due to fly down Friday morning. It was now almost 4:00am Wednesday morning.

"I won't. Sorry to be running off on you like this." He turned her head up to his and gently kissed her. They had been married now for about sixteen months and their daughter was now almost three months old.

Michael Hoyt pulled up and parked in the Houston's driveway a short time later and headed into the kitchen where he could see the light on. As he came through the door, Matt and CJ were wrapped up in each other's arms kissing. "Good morning, love birds. CJ, I'm sorry to be taking him away from you."

"Good morning, Michael." CJ grinned at her husband. "You boys be careful, you hear me?" She handed the two men travel mugs full of coffee.

"Yes ma'am." Matt leaned down and gave her one more kiss before picking up his bag. "Okay, cop, let's hit the road. I'll call you later, Babe. Love you."

"Love you, too." She watched as the two friends loaded up in her husband's truck and drove down the driveway of the ranch.

All the while he was driving to Houston's home, Michael had been thinking about what had happened down in San Diego. He knew better than most how it felt to be the father of a kidnapping victim: he had already dealt with his daughter being kidnapped a few years earlier. If it hadn't been for Houston's help and dogged determination, she probably would be dead. Matt had taken a butcher knife to the chest and nearly died when he tracked down the child molester and kidnapper who had abducted Kathy Hoyt. But from that point on, he and Hoyt had been best friends.

"Okay, now tell me who we're talking about here." Matt took a sip of the coffee.

"Jessica Murphy is the daughter of my friend Austin Murphy. We went through boot camp together and got stationed together the whole time we were in the Navy."

"I bet that doesn't happen too often." Matt had considered himself lucky when he had landed in the same squad as his cousin Will when both men had been sent to Iraq while in the Army.

"I wouldn't think so. Anyway, Austin is still in the Navy – a Commander. He called me a little while ago and told me that his daughter had been kidnapped from her apartment just off the UCSD campus. She's a Marine Biology major, third year – a really smart girl. Her roommate came home about midnight and the place was torn apart. She called the police and Jessica's dad. When he went out to get in the car to go see what was going on, he found the ransom note."

"Mmmm. Has she got a boyfriend?"

"I'm not sure. He just called in a panic and asked for some help. He didn't like the attitude he was getting from the detective that was assigned to the case."

"That's not good. Do you know anybody in the department down there?"

"No, I don't. Sure wish I did." Hoyt watched as Matt rubbed his eyes before taking another swig of coffee.

"I know Uncle Roy has a couple of friends down there. We'll call him later and see if he can help us out." Matt's uncle, Roy Houston, was quite a character. He had worked for the CIA for many years before becoming a college professor, and for the last three years he had been working with Matt at Houston Investigations.

Neither man said anything for a few minutes. "Houston, I know you've got the wedding to deal with this weekend. I'm sorry."

"That's this weekend, Michael. And besides, all I have to do is make sure Murray doesn't pass out during the ceremony." Both men laughed. Murray Chase had a habit of panicking and hyperventilating. "And of course I'm responsible for the bachelor party." He smiled as he thought back to the bachelor party that his friend Vince Novelli had thrown for him before his wedding to CJ the year before. They had spent three hours at a strip club, during which time Matt had to fend off a bevy of strippers. The men had ended up playing poker in the back of the Novelli's restaurant until the crack of dawn.

"Oh boy, what are you going to do?" Hoyt was almost afraid to ask.

"We're going to have a party at the roadhouse that Daddy left to me. Of course I've got a stripper that's going to pop out of a cake…" He looked over at Michael and grinned. "But nothing too major. This is Murray after all. I don't really think we'll get into too much trouble. Maybe end up playing poker again." Both men laughed. Hoyt had heard about Matt's bachelor party from Vince, since he himself hadn't been able to attend because of work.

"The way Murray is you better only let him have one beer or he won't be able to stand up at his own wedding." Hoyt started laughing. Murray didn't hold his liquor well at all.

"Maybe we should just have root beer, huh?" Matt grinned as he thought about the last time Murray had gotten drunk; it wasn't pretty.


	2. Chapter 2

**CHAPTER 2**

Matt and Hoyt pulled into the driveway of Austin and Maria Murphy in a suburb of San Diego a little after six o'clock that morning. There were three police cars sitting there and the two men were stopped as they headed up to the front door. After Hoyt showed his badge and Matt his private investigator's license they were allowed to go in. Austin Murphy stood up from the couch in the living room as he saw Michael walk in and he met him halfway across the room, pulling him into a hug. "Michael, I really appreciate you coming down to help."

"No problem, that's what friends are for, right?"

"Speaking of friends…" Murphy motioned to Matt.

"Oh, sorry. Austin Murphy, this is my friend, Matt Houston. He's a private investigator."

"Is he the one that helped you get Kathy back?" Austin shook Matt's hand.

"He is. I wouldn't have her right now if it hadn't been for him." Hoyt proudly looked at his friend.

"Mr. Murphy, it would help if we knew a little bit about your daughter. Did she have a boyfriend?" Matt sat down in the chair that Murphy offered him.

"She did – until about three weeks ago. They broke up. I'm not quite sure why, Jessica didn't want to talk about it. She was really upset. They had dated for a couple of years. I thought they would get married, but that's not how it played out."

"Have you talked to him since Jessica disappeared?" Matt had pulled a notebook out of his back pocket.

"No, I tried calling him about five minutes ago but didn't get an answer." Murphy's hands were shaking as he picked up a cup of coffee. "Would you two like some?"

"Not right now, thanks." Matt looked around the room and spied a picture of a beautiful blonde girl on the mantel of the fireplace. "Is that her?" He pointed to the picture.

"Yes, that was taken about three months ago." Murphy walked over to the fireplace and brought the picture back, handing it to Matt.

"She's a beauty. What was the boyfriend's name?" He handed the picture back to the distraught father.

"Richie Collins. He was going to school at UCSD with Jessica – a chemistry major – but he dropped out after the last semester. I think that was part of the reason they broke up, but Jessica never actually said that."

"Mr. Murphy, please don't take this the wrong way – did she take drugs?" It was a question that Matt hated to ask, but there had been several cases where drugs were the cause for a client's loved one disappearing.

"No, she's a straight arrow, Mr. Houston. She's never been in any kind of trouble at all."

"Okay, what do you know about her roommate?"

"Kirsten Bloomdale – they were best friends in high school and headed off to college together. She's a political science major. They've lived in that apartment since their sophomore year. Both of them said there was too much noise in the dorms and they couldn't study." Murphy was up and pacing around the living room.

Matt had noticed a man on the other side of the room that had been on the phone since they walked in. He was now off of the phone and glaring at Hoyt and Houston. "Mr. Murphy, who are these men?" He pointed at Matt and Michael.

"Michael Hoyt is a friend of mine – a detective with the LAPD and this is his friend Matt Houston – a private investigator."

Matt stood up and held out his hand to the man, who looked him up and down and kept his hands on his hips, refusing to shake. "I don't think we need any more help here, gentlemen." The last word was said with a sneer.

"Mr. Houston has a good bit of experience in dealing with kidnapping cases, Detective -?" Hoyt had stood up. He didn't care for the man at all and suspected that he was the one that Austin had been complaining about.

"We don't need an out of town cop, either." He gave Hoyt a disgusted look.

"Det. Shoemake, I asked these men to come down and help." Murphy stood up and angrily confronted the detective. "I would think you would have a little more professional courtesy."

"Screw professional courtesy – I've got a job to do and I don't need anybody getting in my way." He stalked out of the house.

"I'm going to guess he's the one you were complaining to Hoyt about?" Matt watched the man go.

"Yes, he is." Murphy was shaking from head to toe. "I'm sorry he was so rude to you – but he seems to be like that to everyone."

"No need to apologize, Mr. Murphy – I've run into that attitude quite a few times in my career." He shot a sideways glance at Hoyt, who grinned.

"Yeah, I was one of the ones that he got it from – until I figured out we work better together than against each other." He patted Matt on the back.

"Mr. Murphy, could you give us the address of the apartment and we'll see if we can get in and take a look around?"

"Sure." He wrote it down on a piece of paper and handed it across to Matt. "And quit calling me mister – everybody calls me Austin."

"Well good, because everybody calls me Houston." Matt grinned and held out his hand and they shook. "We'll get started on this."

"Thanks guys, I really appreciate the help." Murphy walked them to the door and they got into Matt's truck and left.

"Do you know your way around down here?" Matt looked over at Michael.

"Not real well. You?"

"Nope. Reach back there and grab that laptop and we'll pull up a map." He pointed to the back seat of the truck.

Hoyt pulled out the laptop and turned it on, then hit GoggleMaps and typed in the address for Jessica Murphy's apartment and began giving Matt directions. They arrived there a little while later. "I sure hope Shoemake isn't here." Hoyt had a worried expression on his face.

Matt grinned. "Now you know how I used to feel all the time, huh cop?"

"Oh, shut up." Hoyt grinned back. They got out of the truck and went inside the building and hit the button for the elevator. Riding up to the seventh floor, the police detective looked over at his friend. "So what are you thinking so far? The ex-boyfriend?"

"It's usually a good place to start - especially since she didn't want to tell her dad why they broke up." Matt stepped off of the elevator and they turned to the right, finding apartment 704 on the right hand side of the hallway. There was a police officer guarding the door. "Okay, cop, pull out your badge and see if it can get us in."

"Hi, I'm Lt. Michael Hoyt, LAPD. We've been asked to look into the kidnapping of Jessica Murphy by her father."

"LAPD? You're kind of out of your jurisdiction a little bit." The sergeant grinned at the lieutenant. "What about him – if he's a cop I'll eat my hat."

Matt pulled out his investigator's license and showed it to the man. "Houston? Are you Roy Houston's nephew? The one that played football?"

"I sure hope so, especially since I'm his only nephew." Matt grinned at the cop.

"I'll be dipped – Chris Martinson." They shook hands. "How's the old coot doing? I haven't seen him in a couple of months."

"He's good. As a matter of fact I'm planning on calling him down here to help us on this. Just didn't want to call too early. I think he had a date last night."

"Yeah, he's a smooth one with the ladies, for sure. Okay, you two can go in, but you know the rules: looky no touchy, right?"

"Yep. Thanks." Matt led the way into the apartment and pulled a pair of black batting gloves out of his back pocket as Hoyt put on a pair of latex gloves. "Looky no touchy, huh?" He smiled at Hoyt.

"Look who's talking." They both went through the apartment looking but didn't see anything that would indicate why the girl had been taken. "I wonder where the roommate is."

"I don't know – maybe she's in class?" He found a box of photographs in the top of Jessica's closet and pulled them down, going through them. "Bet this is the ex-boyfriend here." He showed Hoyt.

"Bet you're right." They both looked through the medicine cabinet in the bathroom. Other than birth control pills for both girls, there wasn't much in it aside from bandages and acetaminophen tablets. Matt moved back into the bedroom and then went to check out Jessica's nightstand. There was a box of condoms and a letter. He opened it up carefully and began reading. "I think I just found the reason for the break-up." Hoyt walked over and Matt held the piece of paper where the detective could see it.

"Oh boy, I bet Austin doesn't have any idea about this at all." Michael watched as Matt pulled out his cell phone and took a picture of the note, then folded it back over and put it back exactly where it had come from. It was then that they both heard the voice that neither wanted to hear – Det. Shoemake was giving Sgt. Martinson hell for letting them into the apartment.

"I believe we're done here – how about you?" Matt headed for the bedroom door followed closely by Michael, both of them pulling off their gloves and quickly putting them in their pockets.

"Just what in the hell do you two think you're doing in here? I can have you arrested for this." Shoemake evidently hadn't gotten enough out of yelling at the sergeant.

Matt calmly smiled at the man. "We were just leaving." He started past the irate detective and was grabbed by the shoulder and spun around, but Shoemake was the one that got the biggest surprise when Matt ducked and lunged forward causing the man to fall flat on his face. He came up pointing his pistol at Matt.

Sgt. Martinson stepped between the two men. "Easy there."

"You okay? Guess I slipped on something." Matt looked down on the floor around his feet.

"Slipped my ass! You deliberately pulled me down!" Shoemake was heading for Houston again.

"I never laid a hand on you – but you sure put one on me. And I've also got a couple of witnesses to the fact." He lowered his voice and got within two inches of the detective. "I suggest you back off, before you get something you don't want any part of, got it?" His voice had taken on that low, gravelly quality that Hoyt had come to learn meant that he was getting extremely mad.

"Don't you threaten me, Houston; I'll have your license pulled." Shoemake was beet red.

"Believe it or not, that's not the first time I've heard that. And I'm pretty sure it won't be the last. Better men than you have tried and failed – miserably." He turned and walked on out of the apartment and down the hall to the elevator while Shoemake went into the apartment.

Martinson let out a low whistle and Matt looked back at him. "You're definitely Roy's nephew. Hee hee!" He was having a good laugh. Matt just nodded and he and Hoyt got on the elevator.

On the way down to the lobby, Matt pulled out his phone and called Roy. Answering on the first ring, Roy sounded chipper. "What's going on, Mattlock?"

"Hey, Hoyt and I are working on a kidnapping down in San Diego. It's the daughter of a friend of his. Do you think you would be able to come down and help us out a little bit? We've already met one of your pals down here – Chris Martinson?"

"Oh yeah, Chris is a great guy. Boy, I sure hope you don't run into Det. Shoemake."

"We already did. He and I just had an interesting little conversation where he threatened to have my license pulled." Matt looked over at Hoyt who rolled his eyes.

"Yeah he's a first class jerk. I also have a feeling he's on the take, so watch your back, Matt. I'll head on down that way. Where do you want to meet up?"

"That's a good question. Neither one of us is real familiar with the city. What do you think?"

"How about at the Horsehead Saloon?" Roy had spent a good deal of time in the city and was very familiar with the local attractions.

"Uh okay, where is it?" Matt had put the phone on speaker as they walked to the truck. Roy gave him directions and they agreed to meet there at 11:00. After hanging up with his uncle, Matt looked at his watch. It was a little after 8:00. "I don't know about you but I could use some breakfast. Plus it would give us a chance to study the letter."

"Sounds good." Hoyt got into the truck and they decided on a Waffle Hut that was about four blocks from the apartment building. After ordering, Matt pulled up the picture of the letter on his phone and blew it up so they could read it.

_Jessica,_

_I know that you're upset with my suggestion but it wouldn't be permanent. The offer they made me is a good one and I would be able to quit in a couple of years and do whatever I wanted. Since I've lost my student loan, there's no way I can afford school. Please don't be mad at me – I'm doing this so we can have a future together._

_Love, _

_Richie_

The two detectives exchanged a look. "It sure would be helpful if we knew who made him the offer and what it was for." Matt looked back at the picture. "He was a chemistry major – I wonder if it had something to do with drugs?"

"That sounds pretty likely to me. We're awful close to Mexico, too." Hoyt and Matt both remembered the Mexican drug lord that had been behind the bribery charges that Matt had helped his friend fight.

"I think our next step should be trying to track down this guy Richie. Be back in a minute." Matt went back out to the truck and brought in the laptop. He turned it on and started looking for an address on the ex-boyfriend. "Alright, I've got one on him here – let's hope he's still living there." He wrote it down and the directions to get to it just as his breakfast arrived. Hoyt was amazed.

"Are you really going to eat all that?" He looked up at Houston.

"Yep, I'm about ready to eat the table as this point." Matt dug into the breakfast of scrambled eggs, bacon, biscuits, hash browns, and pancakes. It didn't take long for it to disappear. Hoyt was still working on his stack of pancakes and two strips of bacon when he looked up to see that Matt's meal was history.

"And to think Mama Novelli is always complaining that you don't eat." Hoyt was completely taken aback.

"Yeah, well that was before I married CJ." He wiggled his eyebrows and smiled. "I tend to have a better appetite now. Speaking of which…" He pulled out his phone and dialed her cell. "Hey Babe, how's it going? Oh well, you know – the usual. I've been threatened by a cop already." Hoyt could hear her laugh on the other end of the line. "Yep, we discussed that earlier." He looked at Hoyt and stuck his tongue out. "He's getting a dose of it, too. Look, Uncle Roy is going to be coming down here to help us out. He's got connections and knows his way around. Uh huh." There was a pause and then Matt's face lit up. "Hey, Sweet Pea, whatcha doin'?" CJ had apparently held the phone up to her daughter's ear. Matt put the phone on speaker and they could hear Catey Rose laughing. "You be good and keep your mama out of trouble for me, okay, Stinker? Love you." There was another round of laughter from the baby and then CJ came back on the line.

"I miss you." She was already at the office and was about to finish up some paperwork.

"Miss you too, Babe. Guess I better get off of here and get some work done. I'll call you later. Love you."

"Love you, too Cowboy. Be careful. 'Bye."

Matt disconnected the call and sat there staring at his phone for a minute and then sighed. "Don't worry; you'll be back with them before you know it." Hoyt grinned. When Matt had finally admitted his love for CJ, it had completely taken him over. He was one hundred percent in love with the lady and had trouble thinking about anything else – except for his daughter.

"I know." He obviously missed both of his ladies. "Now let's get a move on, cop – we've got work to do. Get that breakfast gone."


	3. Chapter 3

**CHAPTER 3**

After finishing up at the Waffle Hut, Matt and Hoyt found their way to the address that they had found for Richie Collins. There was no answer when they knocked on the door and Hoyt kept a look out while Matt picked the lock and got them into the apartment. Both men were wearing gloves once again and as they went through the apartment, they found more pictures of the couple. Matt also found a note that Jessica had written that was apparently her reply to the one that they had found in her nightstand. Unwilling to stay in the apartment any longer than necessary, Matt once again took a picture of the document and replaced it. "I don't think this guy has been here for a little while." The private investigator had the refrigerator open and was looking at pretty much nothing.

"Houston, if you'll recall your single days, there wasn't much in your refrigerator either." Hoyt looked at the man.

"Nope, but there was always beer in my fridge." He closed the door and looked at the garbage can in the living room next to the computer. There were several wadded up pieces of paper in it, and Matt started pulling them out one by one. "Hmm, they're chemistry formulas." He studied a little more. "I stunk at chemistry. How about you?"

"Never took it. Thank God." He continued looking around the room but was coming up empty handed.

"I'm taking these, Hoyt. If Shoemake was any good he would have already been here anyway." He thought back to what Roy had told him about the cop possibly being on the take. It was at that moment that he heard the detective's voice outside the apartment. Picking up an empty file folder, Matt put the papers into it and then grabbed Hoyt's arm. He mouthed the name "Shoemake" to the detective and pulled him toward the bedroom. He took a quick glance outside and then opened the sliding glass door and went out on the balcony. They were only on the second floor, so Matt stepped over the railing and slid down the bars as far as he could before turning loose and dropping onto the grass below. Hoyt, looking somewhat uncomfortable, followed suit and both men carefully made their way back to the street where Matt had parked the truck. They climbed inside; Matt fired up the engine and casually pulled away from the curb and took a left at the next intersection.

The private investigator had a big grin on his face and started laughing. "What's so funny?" Hoyt looked at him, almost afraid of what the answer was going to be.

"I swear Hoyt; you should have seen your face back there when I went over the rail." Matt was beet red from laughing so hard.

"What about it?"

"You looked like a kid getting nicked in a candy store for sampling the merchandise." Matt continued to laugh. "Welcome to the world of the private investigator."

"Oh shut up." Hoyt looked out the window. "So much for finding the papers."

"They're fine." Matt reached behind his back and pulled the file folder out of the waistband of his jeans, causing Hoyt to smile.

"I've gotta ask you: how many times did you do something like that to me before we started getting along?"

The smirk on Matt's face said a lot. "You probably don't want to know, Lieutenant." He cracked up again. "You know, that's one of the best parts of this job – doing stuff like that. Kinda reminds me of when I was a teenager."

"As bad as you are now, I can only imagine how bad you were then." He couldn't help but laugh. "How did your dad manage to put up with you?"

Matt smiled as he thought about Bill Houston. "He had the patience of a saint, that's how." He looked at the clock on the dash of the truck. "9:00. Let's find a place we can pull over and look at this stuff without a lot of company." They were coming to a park and Matt pulled into the parking lot. After turning off the engine, he pulled out his phone and blew up the picture of the note they had just found in Collin's apartment.

_Richie,_

_I understand the problems you're having but working for those people is not the answer. They can only bring you trouble. I love you, but I can't condone what you're doing. Please don't use me as a reason for doing it._

_Goodbye,_

_Jessica_

The two men exchanged a look. "Uncle Roy can probably figure out the formulas – he was pretty good at that kind of thing." They looked through the papers, but couldn't figure out what they were. "But you know, we're still no closer to finding Jessica than we were when we got down here this morning." Matt sat and watched a couple of kids playing on the slide. "I would really like to talk to the roommate. She might know a little something that could lead us to Richie. I've just got a feeling that he's the key to this whole thing."

"Yeah I think you're right. I'm going to call Austin and see if he knows what her cell phone number is – maybe she could at least point us in the right direction. And since she and Jessica went to high school together, her family probably lives somewhere close by. Maybe we could contact her there." He pulled out his phone and made the call. "Austin, it's Michael. Have you heard anything yet?" He shook his head no at Matt. "Look, we would really like to talk to Kirsten Bloomdale. Do you have any idea how we might be able to reach her?" Matt couldn't hear the reply. "Okay, tell you what: you call her cell and give her my number – if I try calling her and she doesn't recognize the number she might not answer. But let me have it just in case." He wrote it down on the folder. "Okay, what about her folks? Do they live around there close by? Uh huh. Got it. Alright, thanks a lot. Yeah, I'll call you if we find anything. 'Bye." He hung up.

"Good idea - having her call us. After what's happened she might not be too thrilled with getting phone calls from an unknown number." Matt sat and watched the kids playing and was thinking about Catey Rose.

"What?" Hoyt knew the private investigator was chewing on something.

"Huh? Oh, nothing really – just thinking about…" He stopped. Hoyt knew a little bit about what had happened to Matt as a child but not the entire thing. "I was thinking about when I was kidnapped. As bad as it was for me to deal with, I've never really given much thought to what Daddy went through, you know?" He looked down at the steering wheel. "If anything ever happened to Catey…" He shook his head.

"I know I told you a little about what happened to me when I was kidnapped, Michael, but not the whole thing. There were two guys involved in it. They broke into our house in the middle of the night, chloroformed me, tied me up, and put me in the trunk of their car." Matt took a deep breath. "But me being me, I woke up before I was supposed to – and naturally, freaked out when I discovered where I was. They pulled over on the side of the road and one of them – the one with the shaved head – came back, opened up the trunk, and beat the crap out of me - knocked me out cold." He looked across the playground to the duck pond. After another deep breath he continued. "Next time I woke up I was in a big barn. Really big barn filled almost to the rafters with junk. The only windows in the thing were way up high at the very back – and there was no way to get to them. I was still tied up and laying on the dirt floor. There was a padlock on the door. The bald headed guy loved to torment me. He would take all the bullets out of his revolver – except for one. He'd spin the cylinder, put the gun to my head and pull the trigger." Matt stopped again and took another deep breath. "But after a few times that wasn't good enough for him anymore. So, he…" Matt looked down at his hands. "He molested me. Every – single – day. For the rest of the time that I was there."

Hoyt was shocked; shocked that it had happened to Matt and even more so that he was actually telling him that it had happened. He didn't know what to do, so he put a hand on the private investigator's shoulder.

"But you know what?" Matt smiled even though he looked like he was ready to cry. "I got away from the bastards." He grinned. "That's when I learned how to untie knots so well. And I learned how to pay attention to details – like how every night they would get drunk and pass out. You know, you can learn a lot by playing possum. That's what I would do, make 'em think that I was asleep and I would watch and listen to everything they said and did. And I learned how to plan things – like how to escape."

He took another deep breath and smiled again. "I waited until they got drunk again and passed out, then I untied the ropes and hid up close to the door. There was so much junk in there that was the easy part. When they came to and couldn't find me they thought maybe I had gotten to the windows somehow and jumped out. And that was exactly what I was hoping they would think. They unlocked the padlock on the door and ran around to the other end of the barn. When they ran toward the back, I took off running down the road." Matt laughed. "I finally found a farm house about three miles away. It was almost four in the morning when I got somebody to come to the door. They called my dad and the sheriff. Everybody had figured I was dead." He was still smiling. "I took them – my dad and the sheriff - back to the barn but by the time we got there, they had figured out I had scammed them. They were long gone." He wasn't smiling now.

"All the way to the hospital, Daddy held onto me. You know that's the only time I remember ever seeing him cry? And all the way there I told him over and over again: when I grow up I'm going to find them and kill them. All the way there I told him that. And you've always wondered why I hate doctors and hospitals so bad? That's why. The guy messed me up real bad – I had to have surgery. I've been shot and it didn't hurt as bad as that." He stopped and didn't say anything for a minute.

"You know, that's part of the reason CJ and I were so close as kids. She's the one who helped me learn how to sleep without a light on again." He looked over at Hoyt and smiled. "We used to camp out a lot when we were kids – just the two of us. We'd catch some fish, build us a fire, pitch our tent, cook the fish and sit and watch the stars. I had a lantern and used to buy fresh batteries every single week. Except for one." He laughed. "I forgot it one time. We were eleven then. See, I would leave that lantern on all night long. Told CJ it was so she wouldn't get scared." He smiled and shook his head. "But it was for me. After those guys kidnapped me I couldn't stand to be in the dark. So anyway, we got out there and decided to go to bed. We climbed into our sleeping bags and I was almost asleep – when the batteries in the lantern went dead. Poor CJ was already asleep and I scared the living daylights out of her. She thought I'd been bitten by a rattlesnake or something. I screamed and wouldn't quit screaming. All she could understand me say was "It's dark! It's dark!" When the lantern wouldn't come on, she went out and threw wood on the fire until it was almost as bright as day. She pulled me out of the tent and over by the fire and you know, she rocked me in her arms like a baby. Whenever the fire would start to die down, she would throw on more wood. We stayed like that until dawn. And I told her everything. I had never told anybody else. Hell, I never told anybody until Vince and I became such good friends. And now you." He stopped for a minute. "God, who would have thought we would be friends, huh?" They both laughed.

"Matt, I …I don't know what to say, except that I feel honored that you trust me enough to tell me." Hoyt was nearly speechless. "You told Kathy, too - didn't you?"

"Yeah, I did. I wasn't sure if I should but after what she went through, I wanted her to know that she wasn't alone." Matt was looking back out toward the pond again. "Even after something like that is over with, it's always there just kind of hiding in the back of your mind. I wanted Kathy to understand that she could still live and be happy – because if she wasn't – then the bad guys would win."

"I knew that you two had talked, but she wouldn't tell me what you said to her. I'd like to thank you for what you did. She's who she is today partly because of you." Hoyt patted Matt on the shoulder. "And now I also understand a little bit more about you and CJ."

"She knows every single thing that there is to know about me, Michael. And she still loves me." Matt shook his head. "Poor girl." They both laughed again.

"When I was facing those bribery charges and we were watching the video feed at the ranch? Roy told me about what happened when you two were fifteen – with her uncle's friends?"

Matt nodded. "Yeah, I wasn't about to stand by and let them do that to her – not after what I had been through and everything she did for me. Not to mention the fact that I was in love with her – and too stupid to speak up."

"So that's why you became a private investigator. It makes sense now." Hoyt watched as two small children fed crackers to the ducks at the pond. He looked at his watch. It was almost 9:30 and Kirsten hadn't called them back yet. "I wonder if she's in class – Kirsten."

"I was just wondering that, too."

Hoyt's cell phone rang. "Bingo. Hello?" He looked at Matt and nodded. "Yes Kirsten, thanks for calling me. We were wondering if maybe you could tell us a little bit about Jessica's boyfriend Richie Collins. Uh huh, that's what her dad told us. Do you know why they broke up?" He looked at Matt and nodded again. "Uh huh, we were wondering if that's what it was. Do you have any idea who those people were and where we might be able to find them?" He listened and looked at Matt. "Okay, I'm not real familiar with this area; could you tell me where it is? Uh huh, got it. Well I certainly do appreciate you calling. Is there a way that we can reach you if we have any more questions? Great. Thanks again. Goodbye." He hung up the phone. "We guessed right: he was going to work for some Mexican drug lord as a chemist. She said that Richie had Jessica drop him off at some warehouses when he first got hooked up with them. I've got an address." He held up the piece of paper.

"Good. Now let's try to find it on a map." He pulled out the computer and punched in the address. "Here we go – Via de la Amistad. Damn, it's right on the border. Look – if you spit out the back door you can hit Mexico." Matt turned the computer so Michael could see the screen better.

"I'll be – I bet that makes it a lot easier to get stuff back and forth across the border – but then, it would still have to go through customs and all." They both got quiet for a minute.

Matt opened his mouth and started to say something, stopped, then started to speak. "Maybe not."

"Maybe not what?" Hoyt was confused.

"Maybe they wouldn't have to deal with customs." He pulled up the map on the computer again and switched it to the Terra setting which showed actual pictures of the warehouse along with streets that were labeled. "Look how close that is – and look here…" Matt scrolled down slightly showing the Mexican side of the border. "Those are warehouses, too. If they had a tunnel under there connecting the two…" He and Hoyt exchanged a look. "And they could move more through those tunnels than just drugs – they could move people."

"Oh boy." Hoyt sat back in the seat. "Okay, we know for a fact that there are drug folks around that warehouse – and possibly more."

"Roper." Matt looked over at Hoyt. "The DEA guy that we led to Brannigan when you were up on the bribery charges."

"Oh, you mean when you tried to steal a DEA helicopter?" Hoyt knew full well who Matt was talking about – but it was fun to be able to tease the man about something.

"Yeah, that one." Matt grinned. "Maybe this would make up for that?"

"I better call him – he might not want to talk to you." Hoyt pulled out his phone and found the number. "Carl, this is Michael Hoyt. Pretty good. But I might be better." He began explaining to the DEA agent about the kidnapping case and then told him what Matt thought he might have figured out. "Yeah, that's him." He looked at Matt and grinned. "Alright, we'll be there as quick as we can." He hung up the phone. "Guess who's in San Diego at the DEA office here? There is something to be said for timing."

"Where is the office?" Matt started the truck as Hoyt pulled up the map and gave him directions. "Tell you what: call Uncle Roy and let him know to meet us there instead of the saloon." He took off for the DEA office and was there in less than fifteen minutes. Roy pulled in right behind them.

"Mornin' Uncle Roy." Matt got out of the truck grinning.

"You aren't planning on trying to steal anymore of these folks' toys, are you Matt?" Roy had heard what had happened with the DEA's Blackhawk chopper that Matt had taken without permission when he was helping with Hoyt's bribery case.

"No, wasn't planning on it. But you know what they say: never say never." He patted his uncle on the back as they got to the door of the building.

Carl Roper was waiting for them just inside and gave them visitor passes. As he was about to hand one to Matt, he stopped and pulled it back away from the private investigator. "We're going to search you before you leave to make sure you don't try to take another chopper – or an ink pen for that matter." He smiled.

"Fair enough." Matt grinned and clipped the pass onto his shirt and they were escorted into a conference room.

Carl Roper introduced the other agents in the room and then Hoyt, Matt, and Roy. "Houston, explain what you think is going on."

Matt started from the beginning: the kidnapping, the notes that were found, the chemical formulas, what they had found out from the roommate, and then what they had seen on the map. "Now let me say this: I don't know for sure that they have something like that. It's just an idea."

"Do you have the formulas with you?" Roper was surprised at what they had come up with in just a few hours of being on the case. Matt handed the papers over and Roper along with a couple of other agents took a look. "This one here," he held up the sheet that had been on top, "is for a version of Ecstasy. And this other one is for meth. But I have absolutely no idea about this one. Maybe it's something new that they want to try."

One of the other agents in the room, Carla Moreno looked up at Matt. "Actually, this is not the first time that we've had the tunnel theory presented to us – we actually have an agent undercover in that warehouse and he has suspected the same thing." She got up and walked to the front of the room. "Here," she pulled up some pictures of the inside of the warehouse, "is where our agent thinks it might be." It was a picture of a restroom.

One of the other agents piped up. "So you think they're going through the john, or what?" A few snickers were heard.

"Actually we don't know. But we believe it is in the restroom. Nowhere else in the warehouse has panned out when our insider has tried to figure it out. But he's relatively sure that there is a tunnel connecting the two sides of the border."

Matt studied the pictures and walked closer to the screen that they were being projected on. "Ms. Moreno, these pictures are pretty well showing the whole bathroom, but the only place that I see that looks likely is here." He pointed to the vanity. "Right here, under the sink." Matt studied it for a minute. "Granted it would be a tight squeeze, but that would be a great place to hide something like that. You know, that whole thing might slide out of the way…" He studied the pictures some more. "Has anyone looked?"

"Not yet. We're trying to get a message in to our agent but we haven't been able to make contact with him today." She looked a little worried.

Houston looked at the other agents and at Hoyt and Roy. "Anybody here know how to drive a forklift?" No one responded. "Well I do." He looked at Carl Roper. "Whatcha think?"

"Are you gonna steal the forklift, too?" Roper grinned.


	4. Chapter 4

**CHAPTER 4**

"Okay, are you ready?" Carl Roper looked at Matt. "And if you really want to steal the forklift it's okay – it doesn't belong to the DEA."

"Nah, I've got better tractors at the ranch." He walked on out of the DEA headquarters and out to his truck, with Uncle Roy and Michael Hoyt following.

"Matt?" Roy Houston stopped next to his nephew's truck.

"Sir?" Matt turned and looked at his uncle.

"Boy, you be careful, okay? These guys don't play around." He was worried about Matt – even though he knew that the man could take care of himself – he still worried.

"Yes sir." After digging around in the console of the truck, the young private investigator pulled out a baseball cap and put it on. He pointed at the logo on the front: "Oahu Manos". It was the professional baseball team that Matt had played for when he went undercover on a blackmail case the year before. "For good luck." Grinning, he hopped into his truck and left for the warehouse. Carl Roper had managed to get Matt a way into the warehouse posing as a worker from a temp service.

He arrived at the warehouse at 11:15 and walked on in to the office where he got his job assignment. Matt went on about the business of loading and unloading trucks until the lunch break was called at noon. He headed back to the bathroom when no one was looking. Locking the door behind him, he took a look at the vanity. After opening the cabinet doors, the first thing he noticed was that instead of coming straight down from the sink drain and then curving back like most bathroom sinks, there was a ninety degree bend right below the sink and the pipes went straight back to the wall. "Hmm, plumber's nightmare." Matt snickered. He could faintly see an outline in the floor. "And there's the door." All he had to do was report back to Roper and let him know that he had found it. But in order to make sure, he pulled the knife out of his pocket, opened the blade and inserted it into the front of the trap door. He then pried it up and could see light coming from below.

Just then someone pounded on the door. "You gonna stay in there all day?"

Matt flushed the toilet and unlocked the door, walking out into the warehouse. He rubbed his stomach. "Bad burrito, man." He walked on back to the forklift and picked up the drink that he had brought in with him, taking a sip and looking around. Roper had shown him a picture of their agent that hadn't reported in that day, but Matt hadn't seen the man anywhere.

"Hey, you're not getting paid to stand around – get your butt to work or get the hell out!" The foreman was watching Matt closely.

The private investigator nodded, picked up the clipboard that was on the forklift and looked to see where he was supposed to be next. There was a skid of lawnmowers that he was supposed to load onto a waiting truck so he headed to the back section of the warehouse to pick them up, all the while keeping an eye out for the missing agent. When he found the lawnmowers, Matt put the forks under the pallet and started to hoist them up but they were hung on something. He slid down off the forklift and walked around to the backside of the pallet – where he found the missing DEA agent. The man had been stabbed in the chest and was dead. Matt climbed back on board the machine and went to the foreman.

"Uh, I just found a dead guy back behind a pallet of lawnmowers, boss." The foreman looked at him like he was lying then stepped onto the forklift and told Matt to take him to it. He didn't act like he believed him, but once he was shown, he quickly became a believer. He went back to the office and called the police and Matt quickly called Roper to let him know what was going on.

"Damn it!" Roper told Moreno what had happened. "Okay, get out of there now, Houston. Come straight back to the office." He didn't hear anything from the private investigator. "Houston, you hear me?" There was still no response. Roper hung up and looked at Roy. "I think they might have found out Houston isn't who he claims to be. We've got to move on that place now. He found the entrance under the vanity." He started scrambling getting agents together for a raid.

Back at the warehouse, Matt started hearing someone talking before his vision came back. Someone had hit him over the head. He could tell that he was tied up and blindfolded. Immediately, the thought of his kidnapping came to mind. _Okay Mattlock – you're not a kid anymore and you know how to take up for yourself. Play possum and maybe you can get the upper hand on them._

Someone walked over next to him and kicked him in the gut. He didn't react at all, but pretended to still be unconscious. "_Llévalo en el túnel y pondrá su parte con la chica. __Nos ocuparemos de él más tarde_." Matt was fluent in Spanish and knew that the person had said, "Take him into the tunnel and put him with the girl. We'll deal with him later." As he was being moved, and none too gently, Matt heard a familiar voice: Detective Shoemake's. _Son of a …_ _Uncle Roy was right; the bastard is on the take!_

"He's a private investigator. Don't you people make sure somebody is who they say they are before you let them in here? We've got way too much on the line for such stupidity to be going on." The crooked detective was really letting somebody have it.

As he was dragged into the bathroom and handed down into the tunnel, Matt kept his body limp and landed with a THUD! as he was unceremoniously dropped onto the floor. The two men who were taking him through the passageway were speaking in Spanish. _"¿Van a pedir rescate por éste, también?"_ One man was asking the other if Matt was going to be ransomed, too. _"Sí, eso es lo que el jefe dice."_ The other answered "Yes, that's what the boss said."

The two men loaded Matt onto a cart and hauled him through the tunnel. He listened as the two men talked about their boss in whispers. Obviously, they were afraid of "_el jefe_". When they reached the other end of the tunnel, a rope was lowered down, tied around Matt's chest and under his arms and he was then hoisted up. He continued to play possum, even when violently kicked twice more. After being put into a room, the private investigator heard a door slam and a lock being engaged. All was quiet, except for the sound of a woman quietly crying. Matt lay there listening for a minute before he said anything. "Jessica, is that you?"

There was silence for a few seconds, then he heard, "Who are you?"

"My name is Matt Houston. I'm a private investigator helping your dad try to find you." He heard her moving across the room. "Are you tied up?"

"No, not now; I was when I first got here, but they let me loose a couple of hours ago." She was working to untie his hands. Once they were free, he took off the blindfold and untied his feet.

"Are you okay?" Matt stood up and walked over to the door, looking at the lock.

"Yeah, just scared. I've tried to open the door but there just isn't any way." She was standing next to him.

"Sure there is." He smiled at her, then went down on his left knee, raised the right leg of his pants, and retrieved a set of lock picks from his boot. "Now before I do this, what do you know about this building? Were you blindfolded when you came in?"

"Yes, all I've seen is this room. I don't know anything about the rest of it, but I think we came through a tunnel from the warehouse."

Matt nodded. "Yeah, you did, that's how they got me over here. Okay, we're going to try to get back to the tunnel." He looked at the lock again and then began searching for the pick that he needed. "I'm working with the DEA right now. They've probably figured out by now that these guys clocked me over the head and I'm hoping that we've got some help on the way. But we can't depend on that. We'll have to assume that it's just us for right now, okay?" Choosing a pick from the set, Matt leaned over and started working on the door and after a few seconds had it unlocked. "Alright, that's done – now we need to get to the tunnel. I'm going to take a peek out here and if the coast is clear we're going to make a run for it, okay?"

Jessica nodded. Matt carefully eased the door open and looked around. He didn't see or hear anybody, so he took the girl by the hand and they eased out of the room and around the corner, where Matt figured the tunnel was. He knew that the two men who had brought him to the room went around a corner because his back had hit it.

They slipped around the corner and could see the opening of the tunnel situated next to a pallet that was holding four blue fifty five gallon drums. Carefully, the pair ran over to the opening and Matt slid his feet down in the hole and then found the rungs of a ladder and climbed down, followed immediately by Jessica. He took her by the hand and the pair began running back toward the US end of the tunnel. Matt had to bend slightly at the waist: the ceiling in the passageway was about six feet high and he was six feet three inches tall. After running for a couple of minutes, they reached the other end of the tunnel. Just as he was about to push open the door, it was snatched open and he was staring down the barrel of a gun – being held by Carl Roper of the DEA.


	5. Chapter 5

**CHAPTER 5**

"Hi there, got anything to declare?" Roper smiled as he saw who was on the other side of the door. Matt climbed on out of the tunnel and then turned to help Jessica out.

"Yeah, I declare that I found Jessica." Roy and Hoyt were standing just outside of the room and were wearing relieved smiles.

"Matt, I was getting just a little bit worried about you. What took so long?" Roy hugged his nephew.

"Oh, I decided to do a little sightseeing while I was down there." He shook hands with Michael Hoyt. "Have either of you two seen Det. Shoemake?"

"No, why?" Hoyt had put his arm around Jessica.

"Because he's in on this operation. He told them that I was a private investigator. That's when they hit me over the head." Matt was rubbing the back of his head and looked at his hand – there was blood on it. "I don't think the foreman knew what was going on – he was the one who called the cops when I found your agent – sorry about what happened to him."

"You better get that looked at, boy." Roy led Matt out to an ambulance that had been called when the DEA team had hit the warehouse. A small gun battle had ensued and there were four of the warehouse workers injured and one DEA agent. All of the other casualties had already been transported to the hospital.

"It's no big deal, Uncle Roy, I'm fine." He was being dragged by the older man.

"Uh huh, and we're going to let them determine that." He pushed Matt into having a seat on the back bumper and one of the paramedics began to examine his injury.

Hoyt walked out of the warehouse with an arm around Jessica, who was using his phone to call her father. As she spoke to her parents, the lieutenant came over to check on Matt. "You doing okay there, PI?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Uncle Roy's just acting like an old lady." He shot his uncle a dirty look.

"Well that "Old Lady" that you're talking about is right: you need to get that x-rayed and you're going to need some stitches." The paramedic took Matt by one shoulder and Roy took him by the other and pushed him into the ambulance, much to the disappointment of the young private investigator.

"Oh come on, guys, I'm fine. Really, I don't need to go get an x-ray." Matt tried in vain to get past both of the men.

"Michael, you're in charge of the "Dream Truck" right now." Roy tossed him the keys.

"SWEEEEEET!" Hoyt smiled at Houston. "Thanks pal, I'll take REAL good care of it." He gave a devilish laugh. "Seriously though, I'm going to take Jessica to her dad's and then I'll come to the hospital – uh, which one and where is it, anyway?" He looked at Roy.

The paramedic spoke up. "He'll be at St. Vincent's, over on Denny Road."

"Okay, I can find it on the computer. Houston, do what they tell you and I'll be there as quick as I drop off Jessica, alright?"

"Hoyt, c'mon man, help me out here."

"Nope, you go get checked out. If I return you to CJ in worse shape than you were when I got there this morning we'll both be in trouble. And between you and me, I don't want the lady mad, know what I mean? See ya!" He took off before Matt had a chance to reply.

After going to the emergency room and being checked out, Matt was diagnosed with a moderate concussion and directed to get plenty of rest after he received ten stitches for the cut on his head. By the time he was finished at the hospital, Hoyt was on his way back to pick up the two Houston men.

Matt looked at his watch when his stomach rumbled. "No wonder." He and Roy went to the cafeteria and picked up a couple of burgers and ate while they waited for Hoyt. "You do realize if he messes my truck up it's going to be your responsibility, don'tcha?" Matt had just polished off his burger and fries and was eyeing his uncle's fries.

"Don't even think it, boy…either one." Roy slapped at his nephew's hand as he was about to take a fry.

"It's nice to know you're so concerned about me." Matt was sitting there sulking when Hoyt walked into the cafeteria. "Speak of the devil and there he is. You didn't tear up my truck did you?" He got up to throw away his trash and suddenly got dizzy. Hoyt and Roy both jumped to their feet as Matt braced himself on the table and eased back into the chair.

"Matt, maybe we better take you back to the ER." Roy looked over at Hoyt.

"No way. I'm going home. Give me the keys, Hoyt." He held out his hand.

"Nope, not gonna give 'em to you. But I will give them to Roy if you like." Hoyt handed them to Matt's uncle. "I'm willing to bet that they told you not to drive."

"They sure did and he's not going to be." Roy handed the keys back to Hoyt. "You two rode down here together and you can ride back together." He stood next to Matt. "Now if you're going to be stubborn and refuse to go back to the ER, we're going to get you in that truck of yours and Michael is going to take you home. End of discussion."

Matt got to his feet, slower this time, and walked on out to the parking lot grumbling the whole way. Roy and Michael just rolled their eyes. After getting his nephew into the truck and making sure that his seatbelt was on, Roy climbed into the back seat and Hoyt took him back to the DEA office to pick up his car. By the time they got there, Matt had already dozed off.

When they were almost halfway back to the ranch, Matt's phone rang. He slept through it and Hoyt picked it up. "Hi CJ. Yeah he's here with me, but he's asleep. We found her and got her back to her family safe and sound. Well we almost made it through without any problems, but Matt got hit on the head by the kidnappers and has a concussion. Uh huh, I know, he just can't seem to stay out of trouble. We'll be there in a little over an hour. Okay, see you then. 'Bye." He hung up and was about to check on Matt when the PI began snoring. Hoyt chuckled and decided that the early wake-up call might have been partly to blame for Matt being sleepy.

CJ was waiting outside by the pool when Hoyt pulled in. Matt was still asleep and it took them a couple of tries to wake him up. He began fussing about not being allowed to drive his own truck and Hoyt gave him his keys back. "Matt, I really do appreciate what you did and so do Jessica's parents."

"No big deal, Hoyt. I'm just glad we found her so quick. But somebody needs to nail Shoemake." Matt had almost forgotten about the detective. "And what about Richie? Did anybody find him?"

Roy walked up and heard what his nephew said. "Don't worry about Shoemake, they've got him. He tried to go across the border and got stopped. And Richie is dead – they found his body just outside of Tijuana. Roper called and filled me in."

"Well I'm glad they got Shoemake. What a jerk. But I hate to hear that about the kid." He gave CJ a big hug. "Where's Catey Rose?"

"She's taking a nap. Now, let's get you in here and settled in." She took Matt by the hand.

"No, I'm going to go check on the horses." He turned toward the barn but was held back by CJ.

"No sir, you're going to take your butt in the house and go to bed."

"No I'm not, CJ. Hell, I slept most of the way back. I'm not tired." Matt tried to get loose from his wife but she wasn't giving up that easy.

"Mattlock William Houston, you're getting in the house now if I have to hogtie you and drag you in there myself." Even though she was a good bit shorter than Matt, her attitude at that point was a lot bigger.

"Matt, go on in. I'll check on the horses for you, okay?" Roy took him by the arm and along with CJ, began edging him into the house. Hoyt followed along behind and made sure he couldn't turn back. Once inside he went and got in his recliner and began fussing about being treated like a child.

"When you quit acting like one then I'll quit treating you like one. Now hush before you wake your daughter up." CJ sat down on the couch and was asking Roy and Hoyt about what had happened. Both men told her about what had happened when the DEA raided the warehouse.

"But Matt will have to tell you about his part." Roy looked over CJ's head at his nephew. "But I guess you'll have to hear about it later." CJ and Hoyt turned to look and Matt was once again asleep.

"What did they say exactly about his concussion?" CJ got up and went over to check on her husband who appeared to be breathing fine.

"It's a moderate concussion; whatever that means and he got ten stitches. They prescribed plenty of rest - which he seems to be doing without too much trouble." Roy walked over and looked at his nephew and put an arm around CJ. "I tell you, I was sure worried about him."

"As hard as his head is? Really?" Hoyt was grinning. "No really – I was too. I feel bad for dragging him down there and here he sits now with a concussion."

"It's not your fault, Michael; you didn't hit him over the head." She leaned over and kissed him on the cheek and eased the recliner back. Matt never budged. "Maybe he'll be feeling better when he wakes up. You boys have got a bachelor party to attend Friday night you know." She grinned.

"So what have you got planned for the bachelorette party?" Roy knew that as matron of honor, CJ was in charge of the party.

"Uncle Roy! You know I can't tell you that." She gave the two men a big smile and wiggled her eyebrows.

"Bet they get into more trouble than we do." Hoyt elbowed Roy. "Guess I better get on home. I'll see you all Friday morning." He gave CJ a peck on the cheek and headed out to his car.


	6. Chapter 6

**CHAPTER 6**

Friday morning at 8:00 am found Matt and CJ, along with Catey Rose, being dropped off at the hangar for the flight to Houston. As Matt got out of the Navigator's passenger side and began pulling luggage out of the back, Hoyt and Vince walked over to help, as did Lamar who had driven the Houstons there.

"Hey Ace! I heard you got conked over the head – again. How bad did it tear up whatever they hit you with?" Vince shook hands with his friend and the men exchanged a hug.

"I don't know what they hit me with but it sure gave me a headache." He grinned as he pulled out two garment bags – one holding CJ's dress for the wedding and the other his tuxedo. The three friends walked toward the plane and caught up with CJ who was carrying Catey Rose and her diaper bag. Mama Novelli was waiting on board.

Matt gave the Italian lady a big hug. "How was your flight, Mama?"

"Good. Vincenzo flew most of the way." She looked proudly at her son who had been an Air Force fighter pilot at one time.

"I guess Murray and Chris haven't made it yet. Hope they haven't changed their minds." CJ gave Mama a big hug and handed over Catey Rose so that they could spend a little time together.

"I'm going to go check on the refueling." Matt put the garment bags in the closet at the back of the plane and went back down the steps and out onto the tarmac.

"Hoyt, would you keep an eye on him for me?" CJ looked a little concerned.

"Is he still having problems?" He started for the door.

"Not that he'll admit it, but yeah, I've caught him a couple of times getting dizzy and kind of pale."

"No problem. Vince here was going to show me about the refueling, weren't you bud?" Hoyt patted his friend on the back.

"Oh yeah, absolutely." They started down the steps and caught up with Matt.

"What did he do this time?" Mama sat down in one of the seats with Catey Rose as CJ explained what had happened.

Mama clucked her tongue and smiled. "He always manages to get into trouble."

"He does. But people are always coming to him needing help – and he just can't say no. Look at Wednesday for example. If he hadn't gone down there, chances are that girl would still be a prisoner."

Outside the plane the refueling was completed and Murray and Chris drove up together. Matt went over to help them with their luggage along with Vince and Hoyt. "Nope, you escort this pretty bride to the plane, Houston, we'll help Murray." Vince pushed the private investigator and his secretary toward the plane. Matt wrapped an arm around Chris.

"I just want to thank you again for letting us use the ranch, Houston." Chris was obviously nervous.

They stopped just short of the steps and Matt turned her to look at him. "Chris, you know that we were happy to be able to help you. And for heaven's sake relax, okay? You look like you're wound up tighter than an eight day clock." He gave her a big smile and she hugged her boss and they went onboard the plane.

As Matt took a seat next to CJ and put on his seatbelt, Chris was surprised. "I thought you were going to be our pilot."

A little sheepishly, Matt cut his eyes over at CJ. "No, not this time." Once everyone was settled on board, the plane took off for the three hour flight to Houston. Hoyt, Vince, Murray, and Mama were playing poker, while CJ and Chris were discussing wedding details.

Vince looked over at Matt. "Aren't you going to play?"

"No, not right now. Maybe later." Houston tilted his head back and rubbed his neck.

A short time later, Matt started snoring. Chris quietly asked, "CJ - is he okay?"

"He will be. When he and Hoyt went down to San Diego on a kidnapping case Wednesday he got hit over the head and ended up with a moderate concussion – along with ten stitches." She got up and pulled down a blanket from the overhead storage compartment and gently tilted her husband's seat back and covered him up.

"That's why he's not flying. I wondered. He's usually excited about it."

"We had a little disagreement about it yesterday." CJ grinned. "See what you've got to look forward to?"

"Thank goodness Murray isn't as adventuresome as Houston – I think I'll have it a lot easier than you do." Both women giggled.

Matt woke up just a few minutes before the plane was due to land and seemed to be feeling a lot better. They were met at the airport by the limousine from the Houston Ranch and everyone had a good time on the way to the house. Once they had gotten everyone settled in, Murray came to Houston. "Uh, do you think we could talk – privately?"

"Sure. Let's take a walk." They headed out the backdoor and wandered down to the barn. As Matt climbed up on the fence, the horses started coming over to him. He had brought in six more horses to use while working the cows and Marty and Pat Hoffmann, two of the ranch hands that worked for Matt also had their horses there. "Come on up, Murray. Paying attention to them will help relax you, bud. I know you're pretty nervous." Murray climbed up on the fence and started petting on the horses. "So what did you want to talk about?" Houston looked over at the CEO.

"Well, uh, I…how do I say this?" Murray was stumbling for the right words.

"Just spit it out." Matt turned to face his friend.

"I, uh, well hell!" Murray rarely cussed and Matt couldn't help but laugh and then finally the CEO laughed at himself. "I'm a little concerned about, you know, the wedding night."

Matt stopped laughing. Murray had never been big in the dating department and Matt had secretly been glad for his friend when he and Chris had hit it off. "Is there anything in particular that concerns you?"

"Well Houston, I know you've had a lot of experience with women, but I haven't. I'll be honest with you. It's only happened a couple of times and I really don't remember the first time – I was drunk."

"Oh." Matt stopped for a minute. "Okay, uh, well first off Murray, have you and Chris talked about kids?"

"Oh yes, we both want kids and are planning on starting you know, tomorrow night." He had blushed.

"Look bud, there's nothing to be embarrassed about, okay. We're friends, right?" Matt put a hand on Murray's shoulder.

"Yes, but it's just…I'm a grown man for heaven's sake."

"So? Everybody has to start somewhere, Murray. Now that we know about the kid aspect of it that helps out a little, right? Now you don't have to worry about taking care of that. See, one less thing to worry about."

"I guess so. I hadn't really thought of it that way." He took a deep breath. "Okay, I just…I want to be sure that she's happy, if you know what I mean."

Matt looked back up toward the house and noticed that Vince and Hoyt had come out onto the back deck. "Let's go for a ride. I don't think you want everybody in on this do you?"

"No definitely not – it was hard enough to come talk to you."

Matt called one of the calmer horses over and slid onto her back and moved the horse closer to Murray. "Okay bud, put your right leg across her – here, grab my arm and I'll steady you." Murray did as he was told and the pair took off riding around the pasture.

"Uh, Houston – there's no saddle on this horse and you don't have any – what do you call them – reins?" Murray had never ridden a horse without a saddle before.

"That's okay, Murray, the horse doesn't care." He grinned and then he and Murray had a long talk.

Uncle Roy and Murray's brother Myron showed up just before dinner. After having some of Madre Rosa's famous beef fajitas, the men and women parted ways for the parties. Madre Rosa was going to babysit Catey Rose for the evening. After saying goodbye to their daughter, Matt and CJ headed out on the back deck. "You boys stay out of trouble, you hear me?" CJ had her arms up around Matt's neck.

"Yes ma'am, we will – but you ladies better mind your manners, too." He leaned down and gave her a kiss, one of the weak in the knees kisses that never failed to leave her breathless.

"C'mon already, Houston! Gees, you two still act like newlyweds!" Vince and Hoyt were both chomping at the bit to get to the roadhouse.

Matt leaned over and whispered in his wife's ear. "I'm gonna miss you tonight."

"Are y'all going to come back home or will you spend the night there?"

"I personally vote on coming home – but then I've got a good reason for it – they don't." He grinned down at the men who were whooping and hollering for him to come on. "I'll text you later and let you know what's going on. Love you, Babe." He kissed her again, much to the disappointment of the men.

"Love you too, hon. Go on before they start a riot." They kissed once more just to irritate their guests and then went their separate ways.

Matt drove Murray, Vince, Hoyt, Roy, and Myron to the roadhouse and they were met there by some of the other men that would be present at the wedding the next day. They pulled into the gravel parking lot of the bar and Matt pulled out his keys and unlocked the door of the bar and let everyone in, then locked the door again.

"Alright, the first order of business. I'm the designated driver for one of the groups here – do we have any others?" A couple of the men raised their hands. "All right, the rest of y'all give me your keys." He took a lock box out from under the bar and everyone put their keys in it, then he locked it and replaced it. "If you want to drive when we're done here, you've got to pass a sobriety test. And no I'm not kidding. That's why Chuck is here." Matt pointed to his friend, Chuck Wylie who worked for the Harris County Sheriff's Department. "We don't want to have to go to any funerals or bond hearings. Now, the second order of business." He walked across the barroom and slid the jukebox out from the wall and hit a switch on it so that no one would have to pay to play songs that night. "Okay, Murray, since you're the victim – er 'scuse me, the groom," all the men groaned and whistled, "You get first dibs on the music, bud." He grinned at his friend and clapped him on the back.

"Alright boys, the bar is open. We've got beer, tequila, bourbon, and more beer." Matt walked behind the bar and started taking drink orders. "No, I'm not fixing any of those sissy drinks like grasshoppers and appletinis." There was a roar of laughter from the men. "And Murray – I have instructions not to let you have more than you can handle – want some milk?" He held up a gallon jug of milk as the men all broke into more laughter.

After a couple of hours of eating hot wings and nachos and drinking, Matt and Vince slipped into the backroom to let in the stripper that was going to pop out of a cake that they had gotten for Murray. Once she was inside the mock-up cake, Matt and Vince hauled it out into the barroom and in front of Murray. The music started blasting and up popped the stripper – a very busty and voluptuous lady who immediately went straight for Murray. The shocked CEO looked like he was going to pass out when she began to dance for him and sat in his lap. Several pictures were taken and in each one Murray was beet-red. Matt and Vince were laughing so hard they could barely stand. After she had finished her routine and left, the guys were having fun threatening to show the pictures to Chris.

After a few more hours of eating, drinking, and poker playing, the party wound down and the guests began leaving. When everyone was gone except for the folks staying at the Houston ranch, Vince and Hoyt got Murray into the truck and Matt locked up the bar after texting CJ. They headed back to the ranch. It was 3:00 am. When they got there, Matt let the other men out at the back deck of the house and took Murray down to the bunkhouse.

Staggering and slurring his words just slightly, Murray looked at Houston who was helping him into the bunkhouse. "Houston, where am I?"

"You're going to spend the night in the bunkhouse, bud. That way you won't see Chris before you're supposed to, okay?" He eased the man down onto the couch.

"Oh okay, thanks for everything Houston. You're my best friend in the whole *hic* wide world." Murray was about half asleep as the words left his mouth.

"You're welcome. Now get some sleep, okay?" Matt covered the man up with a quilt and quietly slipped outside where his wife met him at the barn. "I was wondering if you would actually come down here." He smiled as he wrapped his arms around CJ and kissed her.

"You don't think I'm chicken do you?" She kissed him back and they edged on inside the barn.

"No ma'am, I know you're not." Matt took her into his arms and closed the door.


	7. Chapter 7

**CHAPTER 7**

A little after 6:00am Matt and CJ came out of the barn kissing and holding hands. Matt walked over to the bunkhouse and checked on Murray, then he and CJ headed back up to the house. When they were about halfway there, they looked up to see Vince and Michael sitting on the back deck grinning at the two of them. The couple both cracked up and went up on the deck. "Morning boys." CJ smiled and breezed right on past them and into the house. Matt stepped inside and grabbed a cup of coffee and went back out to sit on the deck with his friends.

"So Cowboy, did somebody get lucky last night?" Vince cracked up as he spoke and so did Michael.

"Nope, technically it was this morning. Get your facts straight." He grinned behind his coffee cup.

"Don't you two know you're not still newlyweds?" Vince leaned forward and looked at Matt, who didn't seem embarrassed in the least.

"Oh no, Vince, didn't you hear? They think they're gonna be newlyweds until they've been married seventy five years. At least that's what they told me." He grinned over at Matt who was still smiling.

"Seventy five years? Are you kiddin' me?!" All three cracked up.

"How's Murray?" Hoyt took another sip of coffee.

"He's still crashed. I figure to let him sleep until about ten or so – maybe he'll be sober by then. You know he had four beers last night. " He cracked up as did the other two men. Matt finished his coffee and stood up stretching. "Think you boys can keep an eye out for Murray and make sure he doesn't get into the house? I'm going to go grab a shower."

"Sure, Ace. We can do that. Don't forget to scrub your back." He snickered.

"I don't have to – CJ will do that for me." He wiggled his eyebrows and smiled as he walked past the two of them.

"You know, I bet the two of them are going to have about ten kids before it's over with." Hoyt shook his head as he sipped on his coffee.

"I believe he said something about enough for a baseball team." Vince cracked up again. "I'm glad they finally woke up and got together."

"Yep." Hoyt hit the bottom of his coffee cup. "I need a refill. How about you?"

"Yep." Vince drained his cup and Hoyt headed into the kitchen to fill them up. "I'll keep an eye out for the groom."

As Matt started through the house and headed for the stairs, he heard Catey Rose laughing. He tracked the sound down to the den and stuck his head in the door to find Mama and Catey sitting on the couch playing peek-a-boo. Mama looked up and gave him a knowing smile. "Catey spent the night with me last night."

Matt grinned as he walked over to her and leaned down giving her a kiss on the cheek. "Thanks Mama." He then picked up his daughter and blew a raspberry on her belly causing her to break out in a fresh round of laughter before he handed her back to Mama and headed upstairs for a shower.

About 10:00, Matt along with Myron went down to check on Murray. The CEO was still sleeping on the couch. "Hey bud, rise and shine, it's doomsday, oh 'scuse me, your wedding day." He shook his friend who woke up with a start.

"Oh my God! What time is it?" He flew off of the couch and wildly looked at his surroundings. "Where am I?!"

"Well bud, we kinda took a wrong turn last night – you're in Amarillo." Matt winked at Myron and both did their best to keep a straight face.

"WHAT?!" He turned to look at Matt who completely lost it and almost fell over laughing.

"Relax, Murray. You're in the bunkhouse – so you won't see Chris before the wedding." Myron walked over to his brother who slowly sank onto the couch breathing a sigh of relief.

"What time is it?" Murray pulled his glasses off and cleaned them on his shirt tail.

"About ten. You've got another four hours of freedom." Myron winked at Matt.

"So did you have a good time last night?" Matt sat down on the end of the couch.

"Yes I did, thanks for all you've done, Houston. You've been such a good friend to both of us."

"Well we'll see if you still think so when Chris sees the picture of you with the stripper." Matt managed to keep a straight face.

"Oh no! Please don't show her those!" Murray got his usual panicked look.

"I'm just teasing, Murray." Matt patted the man on the back as he blew out a breath of relief. "Besides, she already saw them this morning while you were asleep."

"WHAT?!" Murray was back on his feet.

"Man, I'm just kidding! Will you relax already? Look, are you hungry?"

"No, there's no way I can eat, are you kidding?" He got up and started pacing.

"Look, I'm going to go up to the house and bring down some grub. You go grab a shower." Matt stood up and headed for the door.

"How much sleep did you get, Houston? You seem very relaxed." Murray turned to his friend.

"I didn't." He grinned, wiggled his eyebrows, and laughed as he headed out the door. As he stepped into the kitchen, Matt ran into Madre Rosa who was working on getting things ready for the reception later on. He walked up behind her and gave her a big hug and kiss on the cheek. "Thanks for helping out with all of this."

She returned his kiss. "I'm having a great time, Matt. It's nice to have so many people around again. It reminds me of the old days."

Matt stepped over to the table and grabbed a plate, loading it up with muffins and pastries. "I'm going to take the groom some breakfast and see if we can get him to eat. He's just a tad nervous." Madre Rosa laughed as she watched him.

"And how nervous were you on your wedding day?"

"I wasn't. I was ready for it – finally." He grinned and gave her another peck on the cheek as he headed out the back door whistling and headed down to the bunkhouse to babysit Murray.

Matt headed back up to the house about noon, leaving Myron and Hoyt to keep the groom from hyperventilating and passing out. The minute he set foot in the house, he could hear his daughter's laughter. He ran into Madre Rosa's daughter, Rosita, who was going to be babysitting Catey Rose while the wedding was going on. She and Catey were already having a great time together. After talking to his daughter and Rosita for a few minutes he went upstairs and shaved again, then got dressed in his tuxedo. As he was leaving the room, CJ came in. "How's the groom?"

"Nervous as a sore-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs." He gave CJ a kiss. "I love you, Babe."

"Love you too, sweetie." They kissed again and Matt held her close. "I plan on dancing with my sexy wife this afternoon; be ready."

"Oh I will, don't you worry about that." She gave him a peck on the cheek and then swatted his rear. "Go on back down and take care of Murray or I'm never going to get ready." He laughed and took off through the house.

At 2:00, everything was ready. Matt and Murray were standing at the bottom of the staircase as the music started and CJ came down the stairs. Matt was grinning ear to ear as he saw his wife. Then Uncle Roy escorted Chris down the stairs and Murray was about to go into panic mode. Matt leaned over and whispered to him. "Calm down, Murray. You're going to be fine. I'm right here with you." The groom nodded nervously as Matt patted his shoulder.

As Roy and Chris reached the bottom, Roy put her hand in Murray's. "You're going to be very happy together." Murray nodded and he and Chris took the few steps over to stand before the minister.

In an effort to keep Murray from having any more stress, Chris had decided to go with a basic ceremony. After a short sermon, the minister smiled and stepped to the side as Matt picked up his guitar and had a seat on a stool that was brought up for him. Murray had a puzzled look on his face, but Chris had a big smile as she whispered to him, "You're going to love it!"

Matt began playing "The Wedding Song" as CJ stood there proudly beaming. There were several shocked faces as he began singing. When he finished, he winked at Chris and stepped back by Murray's side as the stool was removed.

The minister stepped back up and asked Murray to repeat after him_. __I, Murray, take you Chris, to be my wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish; from this day forward until death do us part. _

Murray got through it without any problems and was absolutely beaming. Then the minister asked Chris to repeat after him.

_I, Chris, take you Murray, to be my husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish; from this day forward until death do us part._

She also managed to get through without any problems. Matt and CJ had been looking into each other's eyes the whole time, smiling as they both thought back to their wedding day over a year ago. Then the minister spoke again.

"Father in heaven, You ordained marriage for your children, and You gave us love. We present to You Murray and Chris, who come this day to be married. May the covenant of love they make be blessed with true devotion and spiritual commitment. We ask that You, God, will give them the ability to keep the covenant they have made. When selfishness shows itself, grant generosity; when mistrust is a temptation, give moral strength; when there is misunderstanding, give patience and gentleness; if suffering becomes a part of their lives, give them a strong faith and an abiding love. Amen." 

"May I have the rings please?" The minister was smiling broadly as Matt pulled the ring out of his pocket and handed it to Murray as CJ produced the other ring and handed it to Chris.

He began again. "The wedding ring is the outward and visible sign of an inward and spiritual bond which unites two loyal hearts in endless love. It is a seal of the vows Murray and Chris have made to one another."

"Let us pray. Our loving God, we ask your blessing upon these rings, that they may constant symbols of the unending love which binds Murray and Chris together. As a bond, and a pledge, let these rings encircle their fingers as their love does their hearts. With love we say, Amen."

"Murray, repeat after me…but speak to Chris: Chris, I give you this ring in celebration of our marriage, as a pledge of my love and faithfulness. I promise to you my love, friendship and support through our years together." Murray did as he was told flawlessly.

"Chris, repeat after me…but speak to Murray: Murray, I give you this ring in celebration of our marriage, as a pledge of my love and faithfulness. I promise to you my love, friendship and support through our years together." Chris was beaming as she spoke the words to Murray.

The minister spoke once again. "Let us pray. Our loving Father, we know that you are the witness of every marriage and the sealer of every spiritual union. We give thanks knowing that it is your love and light that fill the hearts and minds of Murray and Chris. They have pledged their love and vowed their commitment to one another, on this their wedding day. Grant that they may be true and loving to each other, living in such a way as to bring peace and joy into their lives and to family and friends, who support them with your love and concern throughout their life together. May you continually rejoice with them, just as you do this day. Bless this their wedding day and may they always be aware of your abiding love throughout their life together. We ask these things in Jesus Christ, Our Lord; Amen."

The minister then spoke to the bride and groom. "Murray, Chris, you have declared your commitment to each other before your family and God. It gives me the greatest of pleasure to pronounce you husband and wife. Murray, you may kiss your bride."

The couple kissed, a sweet gentle kiss and then turned to face the crowd gathered there to celebrate with them.

"Ladies and gentlemen, it is with the greatest of pleasure I get to introduce to you for the very first time in public as husband and wife Mr. And Mrs. Murray Chase." The minister was smiling as he made the presentation. Everyone stood, clapped, and cheered as the couple smiled.

Murray let loose of Chris' hand and turned to face Matt. "Houston, thank you so much. You've been there for me from the beginning of this whole relationship. I can never thank you enough." The two men hugged. Meanwhile, Chris was thanking CJ and they also hugged.

Later on, after the cake was cut and the bride and groom shared their first dance, Matt took CJ by the hand and led her out onto the dance floor for a slow dance. They were completely blocking out the rest of the world, as they danced with their bodies as close as possible. Before the song was halfway through they were kissing. Even Vince and Hoyt carrying on about them didn't distract the pair.

"You know, Vince, I don't believe they can even hear us. They are completely lost in their own little world." Hoyt smiled as he watched them.

"I think you're right. Bet you ten bucks she'll be pregnant again before the end of the year." Vince took another sip of beer.

"I won't argue with you there. He told me she wanted to wait until Catey was a year old before they tried again, but I don't think that's going to happen. Those two are absolutely head over heels. You would think it was them that just got married."

Later on, after celebrating with their family and friends, Murray and Chris got ready to leave for the honeymoon. Matt was helping Murray get his clothes together and the CEO was starting to get nervous again. Hoyt and Vince were in the bunkhouse as well, and Matt looked at the two of them. "Fellas, would you give us a minute, please?" Both men walked out and back up to join the rest of the guests.

"Murray, you've married a great lady; congratulations, bud." Matt shook his hand.

"Houston, I …" He gulped.

"Murray, do you love her as much as I think you do?" Matt put his hand on his friend's shoulder.

"Yes, probably more." He grinned.

"Does she love you as much as I think she does?"

"Yeah, she does."

"Then listen. Don't worry about trying to be a Casanova, okay? Just know how much you love each other and I guarantee you, you'll be fine. It will happen almost on its own. Don't think about it, okay? Let nature take its course and everything will be just fine."

"Okay, I…thanks again, Houston. For everything." They shook hands and Matt picked up his friend's suitcase and carried it to the waiting limousine. As the couple got in the car and waved goodbye, Matt gave Murray a thumbs up that was met with a huge smile and nod.


	8. Chapter 8

**CHAPTER 8**

After the couple left, Matt wrapped his arm around CJ and they told the guests goodbye as they started to leave. In half an hour, no one was left but Matt, CJ, Vince, Mama, Hoyt, and Roy. Matt had taken off his jacket, tie, and cummerbund, and his shirt was halfway unbuttoned. CJ kicked off her shoes and plopped down in Matt's lap as he sat in one of the chairs on the patio. She looked at her husband. "Why do I feel like my children just got married?" They all laughed.

"Boy, can't you see it, Michael? Someday some boy is going to get up the nerve to come ask to marry Catey. I'd sure hate to be in his shoes." Vince looked over at his best friend.

"I'll have to take lessons on how to handle that from Michael I guess; he'll be dealing with it before I will." Matt raised his beer bottle in a toast to his friend.

"Oh God, why did you have to say that? Now I'll be worried about that." Hoyt started laughing.

Matt looked at CJ. "I think now is as good a time as any, what do you think?" She nodded.

"Boys, we want to talk to you about something. I've been intending to do it before now, but things always got in the way. Better late than never I guess." He took a long swig of beer. "Okay, you both know how much I love your kids." Both men nodded. "I think of them as my own and always have – and always will." His friends nodded again. "Here's a proposition for the both of you. And I want you to talk to Isabella and Anne about it when you get back home. You both know that I worked with Derwin Dunlap on some games."

"I thought it was one game?" Hoyt piped up.

"Actually, only one has been released so far – the second will be released in November and the third next spring. Anyway, I had an idea." He took another swig and set the bottle down. "I would like to set up five trusts with the profits from the first game – in each kid's name. Now I don't know exactly how much that will be. But, I can tell you that each trust will start out with at least $4,000,000 in it."

Vince and Hoyt looked at each other and both of them were speechless for a minute. "Dude, seriously, that's $20,000,000." The restaurant owner couldn't believe his ears. He looked over at his mother who seemed just as shocked. "You can't do that, man. I mean, it's a nice gesture and everything, but …gees, that's a lot of money."

"Yeah, Houston, I mean, we know you love the kids, but that's just too much." Hoyt was completely flabbergasted.

"I can do it. Look fellas, I'm not hurting for money. Surely you two know that?" Matt began peeling the label on the bottle.

"But after you split the company and all… I mean, you're not broke, but damn!" Vince couldn't believe his ears.

"Vince, let me clue you in on a little something." He looked at his wife and both of them grinned. "When I split the company up and put Murray in charge of Houston Industries to run to fund charities, I did take a financial hit. BUT…" He leaned back in the chair. "What you have to consider is this: I was extremely well off before the split. Granted, afterwards I wasn't raking in the same amount of money that I had been – obviously. Guys, I could have walked away right then and never worked another day in my life and not had a thing in the world to worry about. I also got a very healthy inheritance when Daddy passed away."

Matt took another sip of beer. "I continued on with the detective agency and you probably don't realize it, but I cleared over six million dollars just from it last year." He paused to let that sink in. Both of his friends were frozen, as was Mama. "Now, I've also got the BugBytes deal with Derwin and the sales have skyrocketed. Then there's the games; I've made over twenty million with them so far this year – and we're just starting the third quarter." Vince and Michael looked at each other in amazement.

"Hoyt, do you remember when we met, and you were talking about how I had split up the company and you thought I was crazy?" Hoyt nodded; he couldn't even speak he was so shocked.

"Vince, do you remember when we met and you found out that before I was thirty years old, I was a millionaire?" Matt looked at his friend who was in the same condition as Hoyt.

"Well guys, I don't usually talk about money like this, but since you're making me plead my case, here goes: I'm thirty four years old – and I'm a billionaire." He looked at the two men. "Do you really think that $20,000,000 is going to bother me?" Neither man could say anything for a minute. "Now while you're chewing on that, let me hit you with the details. There are some conditions on the deal. Number one, they have to graduate from high school. Number two, they have to go on to some other kind of school, be it college or cooking school or music school, whatever. The money can be used for tuition, books, rent, whatever they need – but not booze or parties. And they have to graduate from there as well. Then, after they graduate, they can use it for whatever they want. By that time they'll be adults and can do whatever they damn well please."

Neither man said a word. Mama still looked like she was in shock. It remained quiet as a tomb for a minute. Vince looked at Michael. "Damn."

"Yeah, what he said." Michael pointed his thumb at Vince, then shook his head. "I'm not going to tell Anne this until we're face to face – or she's going to think I'm drunk." Matt and CJ burst into laughter.

"Holy cow, Matt; you just dropped a bomb on us." Vince looked across at his friend.

"Now, there's one more thing that I want to say." Matt looked at CJ who nodded. "I've been very lucky in my life, fellas, you know that. And I think of both of you as brothers, I think you know that, too. Right?"

"Yeah." Both men spoke at the same time.

"Alright, I want you to promise me something. No matter what it is, if you guys get in a bind, you come to me and we'll take care of it, okay? No matter how big or small."

"No man, I'm not gonna…" Vince started in.

"Bud, hear me out – both of you." Matt had seen Michael was about to start. "I owe both of you more than you'll ever know. Your friendship is…" Matt was getting a little bit emotional. "It's the best thing that ever happened to me. No, wait, second best, CJ gets dibs on first. Or maybe y'all are third; Catey's gotta be in there somewhere." They all laughed. "Anyway, you see what I mean, right?" His friends nodded. "You're my family, whether you like it or not. And that goes for you too, Mama." He looked over at Vince's mother.

"I never knew my mother. She died an hour after I was born." He started to choke up a little bit. "But I've had two mothers: first Madre Rosa who used to wipe my snotty nose and bust my backside when I needed it, and you." He nodded at Rosa Novelli. "And I do hope you realize that the Rose in Catey's name came from both you and Madre Rosa – I never told you that." Rosa looked shocked and started to cry. "Now don't do that – I don't want to lose my macho image here, Mama." They all laughed.

"Now Uncle Roy, I haven't said anything to you yet. But you know that the same goes for you and Will both. Understand?" Matt looked over at his uncle. "And I want to tell all of you something, that because you are my family, I think you deserve to know. Uncle Roy, you already know it, but I don't think that you know that I know it. God that was complicated." He laughed then looked at CJ who nodded encouragement and kissed him on the cheek.

"Bill Houston was not my biological father." Matt didn't say anything else for a minute, but looked over at Roy whose jaw dropped.

"How did you find out?" His voice was very quiet.

"Well, right before I split up the company, I was going through a rough patch. I was working almost non-stop, between Houston Industries and the detective agency. And this poor lady here," he hugged CJ, "Was putting up with me and my rotten moods." She grinned and ran her fingers through his hair. "I was being a real jerk. I got into a big fight with Murray, Chris, and even CJ – all on the same day." Matt looked down at his wife's wedding ring and back up into her eyes. "Thank God she got right back in my face and told me how big of a jerk I was being." They all laughed again. "And I'm also thankful that she didn't walk out and leave me to my own devices. I would be dead right now and that's not an exaggeration." Matt was completely serious. It got so quiet that you could have heard a pin drop.

"Anyway, you heard about how somebody was following me and how the Cody family was behind an impersonation attempt trying to get some land from me that I was going to give to the state for a park." They all nodded. "And you know that we busted them on it. But you don't know who it was that helped me."

Matt took a big breath. "I was here at the house and had been out on a date with…let's just call her somebody who was a big fraud and who I eventually found out was working for the Codys. When I got back home there was a guy in the den, drinking Bill's bourbon – and he was about half-way sloshed. I came in, grabbed him by the collar and punched him. I demanded to know who he was." Matt looked at Roy who was shocked.

Hoyt's mouth dropped open. "Is that the…" He stopped.

Houston nodded. "We got into a fight. I hit him and he hit the floor, and then he tried to leave and I stopped him – wanting to know who he was. He wouldn't tell me and I pushed him and he hit the floor. And then he stood up and hit me with a wicked right." Matt smiled, though he was obviously upset. "Knocked me on my butt, too. And then he told me that he was my father." He paused for a minute and took a big breath. "He left then, and I thought about it for a while: I had always wondered a few things. Daddy was on the short side and I was tall. He had blue eyes and I had brown. Things that I had wondered about before, but just thought it was a quirk. So, me being a private investigator, I went digging through Bill's papers – and I found the adoption papers." He looked over at Roy and couldn't tell if he was mad or just upset. "Uncle Roy, please don't be mad. Hear me out, okay?" Roy nodded. Rosa reached over to Matt's uncle and held his hand.

"CJ did some digging on him for me and found out that his real name was Virgil Wade Mattlock. He had used the assumed name of Virgil Wade for a while. That day is when I came in to check his record at the station and you and I locked horns." Matt and Hoyt smiled at each other and Matt pointed at Hoyt. "Vince, this man right here put me through hell for a while." They both laughed.

"Matt, I'm sorry. I had no idea that he was your father." Hoyt felt absolutely awful about how he had treated Houston.

"You didn't know and at that point I was still trying to get my head wrapped around it." Matt shook his head. "After that I went to talk to him again and found out the whole story. He had found out that Cody was behind the whole impersonation deal and was planning on killing me after he got what he wanted. Then we talked about why he had given me to Bill. He told me my mother had died when she gave birth to me – that's what he had been told. Now CJ and I found out not too long ago that that wasn't true – she had been in a car accident a month before I was due and went into labor. That much was right. But the injuries from the wreck were what killed her. She died about an hour after I was born, right there in the car." Matt got slightly choked up and CJ gave him a hug and he pulled himself together and went on. "He said that he took me to his best friend, Bill, and swam away in a river of bourbon. He came back about a year later, and I was walking and talking, calling Bill "Daddy". I was Bill's world and he was mine. So he figured I would be better off not even knowing about him."

After another deep breath he continued. "We were on our way to confront Cody and got waylaid by his men; they locked us up in a room and we didn't come to until the next day."

CJ got up and came back, bringing her husband another beer which he gratefully took a big swallow from. "Thanks Babe."

"Well as it turns out, my double looked like me, but he didn't act like me. CJ figured out the minute that he met her at the airport that it wasn't me." He looked at her and grinned. "That afternoon, there was supposed to be a big press conference where the imposter was supposed to announce that Cody and I would be going into business together. We escaped from Cody's place and headed to the girl's house and that's when I found out she was working for the Codys. So we headed back here to the house, but before we got here, some deputies that were on Cody's payroll tried to take us out." Matt got a smile on his face and a faraway look in his eye. "I was driving and he was riding shotgun – literally." He gave a small laugh. "We took out two patrol cars and a helicopter."

"About the time they got started on the press conference, he and I showed up and kind of broke up the party. We confronted Cody and he tucked his tail and ran. But the imposter wasn't going to go so easy. He pulled a gun and fired at me – point blank." Matt took another swallow of beer. "My father stepped in front of me and took a bullet that was meant for me." Everyone was shocked.

"Now I didn't think he was hurt that bad at first. The guy that shot him took off running toward the river." Matt pointed in that direction with the bottle of beer. "My father told me to go get him and I did. Beat the crap out of him too, before the police came and hauled his butt out of the river and I came back up here to the house - the front porch to be exact." He took another drink. "Did you ever wonder why when y'all have been down here, that I never go through the front door?" Matt looked around at his friends and his uncle. "That's because my biological father, Virgil Wade Mattlock died right there on the front steps." No one said a word.

"When I came back up from the river, CJ told me that if he was a friend of mine I better go talk to him – because he was dying. And I did." His eyes filled with tears. "We talked about what a good team we had made, taking out the Codys. And he made me promise," Matt was looking at Roy, "to never let Bill know that I knew the truth. He said it would break his heart." He took another drink of the beer. "And then he died right there in my arms on the front steps." CJ had tears coming down her cheeks as did Mama and the other men weren't far behind.

Vince was completely shocked but managed to find his voice. "And then Bill died about six months later. Damn."

Matt nodded but smiled. "But he never found out that I knew the truth. I made sure of it."

"So you already knew about that when you bailed me out of my financial problems a few months later." Roy looked at his nephew.

"Haven't you always considered me your nephew?" Matt looked into Roy's eyes.

"Yes, you know I have." The older man was visibly upset.

"And you've always been my uncle. It's no different than Vince's boys or Kathy, is it? Or how Vince and Michael are Catey's uncles."

Roy shook his head no, then got up and walked over and hugged both Matt and CJ.

"Now, like I told you earlier, the same deal that I made with these two yahoos goes for you and Will. And if Will should happen to figure out how to have a kid, there will be another trust fund." He grinned at Roy who couldn't help but laugh. "I know that what's been said here today has been, as Vince so eloquently put it, a bomb. But it's been eating at me for a while and now just seemed like a good time to let it go." He hugged CJ closer.

"Houston, I don't know what to say." Vince looked over at his mother. "I guess the best thing would be to say thank you – but you know we have to get this approved by Isabella." He and Matt both laughed.

"And the same goes with Anne. But thanks." Hoyt was absolutely astounded.

"I guess we better go in here and give Rosita a break. She's been taking care of Catey all day long and I'm sure she's ready to go home." Matt stood up and he and CJ walked into the house hand in hand. Everyone else was still sitting at the table, stunned.


	9. Chapter 9

**CHAPTER 9**

Later on that night Matt was laying in the recliner in the den, barefoot and wearing a pair of jeans, with Catey Rose on his bare chest, both of them asleep while Hoyt and Vince were watching a baseball game on TV. Hoyt looked over and saw Matt and his daughter and poked Vince in the ribs, motioning to the pair. Both men smiled. CJ had gone upstairs to take a shower and Mama and Roy had gone for a walk around the grounds. "You know, he told me the whole story about the kidnapping Wednesday while we were in San Diego on that case." Michael looked over at Vince.

"He's been through a lot in his life. Everybody thinks that being rich is so easy, but he's living proof that it isn't always. But you know if he didn't care so much about people it would probably be a lot easier on him." Vince looked at Matt and then Michael. "You know when he told me about it?" Hoyt shook his head no. "The night before I got shot. We spent the whole night sitting in this apartment waiting for two bad guys to show up. God, we talked about everything. How I met Isabella, my dad, his dad, and right before dawn, he told me about the kidnapping." He shook his head. "I couldn't believe it. And then, you know what? He started talking about CJ." Vince laughed. "I told him then that he needed to wake up and smell the coffee. That was the first time I ever said that to him. Definitely not the last though. But knowing all that about what they did to him and what CJ did for him, it all makes sense – why he was so dependent on her."

"Did he tell you about what happened when they were fifteen?" Hoyt leaned back and took a sip of his beer. Vince shook his head no.

"Well he didn't actually tell me either, Roy did. That's when I was up on the bribery allegations and we were at the ranch watching surveillance video from those damn critters of his." He laughed. "Guess I shouldn't say that, but he has tormented me about them. I swear I think the nut put one in my office." Both men chuckled. "Anyway, Roy told me that from the time CJ moved to the ranch next door with her uncle, he was really mean to her – made her do most of the work around there. Matt started going over there every day to help her. Roy said he got up at 4:00 every single morning, did his chores at home, and then went to help CJ to keep her uncle off of her back. Well, when they were fifteen, Matt got there one Saturday morning like he usually did and CJ's uncle and two of his friends were in the barn with her. He was encouraging them to rape her." Vince was sitting there with his mouth hanging open. "Of course when Matt walked in and saw what was going on there was a fight. Big fight – he tackled one guy and then broke his nose, while the other guy swung a shovel at him. He missed the first time but he connected the second time with Matt's knee. CJ jumped on the man's back with her hands around his throat, giving Matt enough time to get to his feet again and grab the shovel away. He swung at the midsection of the man that CJ was trying to hold back and hit him in the belly. The other man jumped up and pulled a knife on Matt, who kicked it out of his hand and then hit him in the head with the shovel. Knocked him out, too. Then he threatened to kill CJ's uncle with the shovel. He picked up the knife and drove it all the way in to the beam next to the uncle's head and snapped the handle off. Matt told the uncle if he or his friends ever tried to hurt her again he would kill all of them. Evidently the man believed him. According to Roy he never so much as spoke a cross word to her after that."

"Yeah, I'd say that might do it." Vince looked at Matt and shook his head. "I'm just glad that they finally figured it out. Both of 'em are a lot happier."

"So what do you think Isabella's going to say?" Michael sipped his beer.

"She'll probably freak out like I did at first. But really, you know he's going to do it one way or another. Like what he did with the restaurant." Vince chuckled.

"What did he do?"

"Well when we first moved to Hawaii and were going to open the restaurant, I went to a bank to get a loan. Actually several banks and they each turned me down. Houston talked to Mama and found out what had happened. Suddenly I get a phone call the next day – an open line of credit. Well I'm not stupid. After I found out she had told him what happened and he asked which banks I had been to – it wasn't too hard to figure out." He laughed. "Man I was pissed. I was about to get on a plane and fly back to LA to kick his butt. Then Mama sat me down and reminded me how the two of us were practically brothers and that all he was trying to do was to help me and my family - like he hadn't already done enough." Vince looked over at his best friend. "There's no way in hell I could ever pay him back."

"That's like when Kathy was kidnapped. He put up a reward and paid one guy $10,000 to give us access to the records at the Hall of Justice. Of course that was after we chased him out of a deli, across a busy street, and then Matt threw him in a garbage dumpster for about half an hour. Odd technique, but it worked." He laughed. "And after we got her back, she was a mess, you know? Houston came by the day he got out of the hospital from where the whacko stabbed him in the chest with the butcher knife. Said he needed to talk to Kathy. She was really skittish of any men – even me a little bit at first, but she went right to him and gave him a hug. They went out and sat on the swing in the backyard and talked for almost an hour. I didn't know until Wednesday that he had told her about his kidnapping. She came on out of it afterwards. It didn't happen overnight, but she was a lot better after that."

They both heard CJ coming down stairs just as Roy and Mama walked back into the house. All three came to the den at the same time. CJ looked across the room at her husband and grinned. "Two peas in a pod. I guess he is tired – he's been awake since we landed yesterday morning." She picked up an afghan off the back of the couch and covered both of them up.

"So Vince, are you going to be ready to get to work Monday morning?" Roy sat down across the room on the loveseat.

"Sure am." He was all smiles.

"You could quit the police department and play alarm installer, Michael." Roy had a serious look on his face.

"Nooooo, I can't do that – like he told me before," he motioned to Matt, "it would be too hard to break in a new connection in the department." They all laughed.


End file.
